Client Identification

In the context of the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism, the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act applies to the providing of services by civil law notaries, lawyers and tax advisers. WLP-Law is thus obliged to identify their clients, prior to establishing a business relationship

If the client is a legal entity, the identity can be established on the basis of an excerpt from the trade register or by means of a deed executed by a civil law notary. If the client is a foreign legal entity, the identity can, for example, be established on the basis of an excerpt from the trade register of the country of origin or on the basis of in international business accepted documents, data or information which are acknowledged by law as a valid means of identification in the country of origin. Further, it is required to ask for the name and date of birth of the persons representing the company and to store these data.

For local and foreign legal entities, barring exceptions, the ultimate beneficial owner must also be identified. The ultimate beneficial owner is considered to be the natural person who, directly or indirectly, owns more than 25% of, or who has otherwise control over, the client.

The identity of natural persons can, for example, be established on the basis of a passport. If the client is a non-resident and is qualified as a politically exposed person, additional investigations should be carried out.